# Did Lucy & Ricky's/Rob & Laura's twin beds have ANY basis in reality? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 28, 2009, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-lucy-rickys-rob-lauras-twin-beds-have-any-basis-in-reality/497907 "2009-05-28T05:30:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![The\_Shroud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/439d5e/32.png) [@The\_Shroud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Shroud)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2009, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-lucy-rickys-rob-lauras-twin-beds-have-any-basis-in-reality/497907/1 "2009-05-28T05:30:04Z")
Obviously, sitcom characters in the 1950s and 60s, even married couples, weren’t allowed to be shown in the same bed together. And in at least two sitcoms I can think of, I Love Lucy and Dick Van Dyke, the couples were shown sleeping in separate beds. My question is, did this setup seem as ridiculous then as it did now? Were there hot young couples like Rob and Laura who, for whatever reason, slept in twin beds? Because if not, it seems like a very unique form of censorship; whereas most censorship just omitted words or concepts, these shows actually\* invented a whole different lifestyle\* to duck the censors. The only other thing I can think of that’s remotely close to that is creating bathrooms without toilets, but you could argue that the toilets were just up against the fourth wall. Just one of those things that bugs me about Dick Van Dyke, as I watch it on Hulu and remember what an otherwise perfect show it was. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2009, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-lucy-rickys-rob-lauras-twin-beds-have-any-basis-in-reality/497907/2 "2009-05-28T05:46:59Z")
Lucy and Ricky Ricardo didn’t always have separate beds. In the first episodes of the first season, they had twin beds that were shoved up next to each other with no space between. Rob and Laura Petrie _could_ have shared a bed, at least from the 1964–65 season onward. [More on television beds](http://www.harpiesbizarre.com/bedtime.htm). ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2009, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-lucy-rickys-rob-lauras-twin-beds-have-any-basis-in-reality/497907/3 "2009-05-28T06:44:57Z")
> [@Walloon](#): > > [More on television beds](http://www.harpiesbizarre.com/bedtime.htm). Wow. That’s fandom taken to the extreme. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2009, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-lucy-rickys-rob-lauras-twin-beds-have-any-basis-in-reality/497907/4 "2009-05-28T06:45:09Z")
> [@The\_Shroud](#): > > . . . but you could argue that the toilets were just up against the fourth wall. And totally silent when used. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2009, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-lucy-rickys-rob-lauras-twin-beds-have-any-basis-in-reality/497907/5 "2009-05-28T08:27:31Z")
> [@](#): > > Were there hot young couples like Rob and Laura who, for whatever reason, slept in twin beds? Oh, there can be reasons for separate beds. My husband and I sleep in separate rooms, because I can’t sleep without a nightlight and radio on, and he can’t sleep with them. We also have different bedtimes and sleeping habits, and both of us snore. ---
**Author:** ![Early\_Out](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Early\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Early_Out)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2009, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-lucy-rickys-rob-lauras-twin-beds-have-any-basis-in-reality/497907/6 "2009-05-28T10:39:22Z")
My parents always had twin beds. And yet I’m here, and have siblings! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![leander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bcef8e/32.png) [@leander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leander)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2009, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-lucy-rickys-rob-lauras-twin-beds-have-any-basis-in-reality/497907/7 "2009-05-28T10:55:22Z")
Here’s an interesting Yahoo answer on the subject: > **[Yahoo | Mail, Weather, Search, Politics, News, Finance, Sports & Videos](https://www.yahoo.com/)** > > Latest news coverage, email, free stock quotes, live scores and video are just the beginning. Discover more every day at Yahoo! ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2009, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-lucy-rickys-rob-lauras-twin-beds-have-any-basis-in-reality/497907/8 "2009-05-28T11:13:01Z")
From that Yahoo question: “I think it was in the 70s that married couples started sleeping in the same bed.” Insert uproarious laughter here. The Yahoo answer is also wrong: > [@](#): > > You have to understand that censorship laws in the USA for movies and television did not allow for a man and woman to be portrayed in the same bed until the late 1960’s (I think 1967). There are numerous examples in Hollywood movies before 1934 and from 1953 onward of couples sharing a bed. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2009, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-lucy-rickys-rob-lauras-twin-beds-have-any-basis-in-reality/497907/9 "2009-05-28T11:19:02Z")
I think “sex with the bra on” is the modern version of this: not that people in real life never leave their bra on during sex, but TV characters always do, so that they can show them in bed together, uncovered from the waist up. ---
**Author:** ![Sophistry\_and\_Illusion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Sophistry\_and\_Illusion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sophistry_and_Illusion)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2009, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-lucy-rickys-rob-lauras-twin-beds-have-any-basis-in-reality/497907/10 "2009-05-28T11:19:09Z")
My grandparents had twin beds in the same bedroom, with a nightstand in between them. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2009, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-lucy-rickys-rob-lauras-twin-beds-have-any-basis-in-reality/497907/11 "2009-05-28T11:56:42Z")
My parents had twin beds, but had 5 kids. My mother suffered from a broken back and neck and so they needed very different mattresses. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2009, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-lucy-rickys-rob-lauras-twin-beds-have-any-basis-in-reality/497907/12 "2009-05-28T12:13:42Z")
> [@Walloon](#): > > Lucy and Ricky Ricardo didn’t always have separate beds. In the first episodes of the first season, they had twin beds that were shoved up next to each other with no space between. In point of oddness, my parents-in-law did this as long as I knew them. Until my father-in-laws death in 2000 (and I’d known them since the mid-1980s) they slept in twin beds pushed together. So I can’t say it’s unheard of. Bear in mind, though, that they were about 15-20 years older than the usual parents for my generation. They were both more in 1929-30 and got married and had children very late. So it might be an age thing…or it could be some entirely undiscovered reason. I ain’t gonna ask, either. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2009, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-lucy-rickys-rob-lauras-twin-beds-have-any-basis-in-reality/497907/13 "2009-05-28T12:17:11Z")
Having twin beds placed together offers the best of both worlds. Each partner can choose a preferred mattress firmness, and one partner’s restless shifting is less likely to disturb the other partner’s sleep. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2009, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-lucy-rickys-rob-lauras-twin-beds-have-any-basis-in-reality/497907/14 "2009-05-28T12:19:44Z")
> [@Early\_Out](#): > > My parents always had twin beds. And yet I’m here, and have siblings! 🙂 [Wendy Liebman] Your daddy must have a really long dick! [/Wendy Liebman] [🙂](http://www.wendyliebman.com/) ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2009, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-lucy-rickys-rob-lauras-twin-beds-have-any-basis-in-reality/497907/15 "2009-05-28T12:28:43Z")
> [@eleanorigby](#): > > My parents had twin beds, but had 5 kids. My mother suffered from a broken back and neck and so they needed very different mattresses. My aunt and uncle also had separate beds, and my aunt had a broken back, but the separate beds came first. I think it was the kind of furniture they preferred, and he did snore a lot. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2009, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-lucy-rickys-rob-lauras-twin-beds-have-any-basis-in-reality/497907/16 "2009-05-28T12:53:21Z")
There’s also Basil and Cybil Fawlty. Although, you can kind of understand that mutual loathing is involved in that one. ---
**Author:** ![PatriotGrrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9dc877/32.png) [@PatriotGrrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotGrrrl)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2009, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-lucy-rickys-rob-lauras-twin-beds-have-any-basis-in-reality/497907/17 "2009-05-28T12:58:36Z")
> [@Walloon](#): > > The Yahoo answer is also wrong Are Yahoo Answers _ever_ right? ---
**Author:** ![dwc1970](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a183cd/32.png) [@dwc1970](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwc1970)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2009, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-lucy-rickys-rob-lauras-twin-beds-have-any-basis-in-reality/497907/18 "2009-05-28T13:05:33Z")
> [@MandaJo](#): > > I think “sex with the bra on” is the modern version of this: not that people in real life never leave their bra on during sex, but TV characters always do, so that they can show them in bed together, uncovered from the waist up. Either that, or they use beds with a seemingly L-shaped blanket that only covers up the woman’s upper naughty bits. ---
**Author:** ![leander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bcef8e/32.png) [@leander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leander)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2009, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-lucy-rickys-rob-lauras-twin-beds-have-any-basis-in-reality/497907/19 "2009-05-28T13:09:34Z")
> [@Walloon](#): > > From that Yahoo question: “I think it was in the 70s that married couples started sleeping in the same bed.” Insert uproarious laughter here. > > The Yahoo answer is also wrong:There are numerous examples in Hollywood movies before 1934 and from 1953 onward of couples sharing a bed. Did you actually read the answer carefully? > [@PatriotGrrrl](#): > > Are Yahoo Answers _ever_ right? They have about the same success rate as Cecil. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2009, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-lucy-rickys-rob-lauras-twin-beds-have-any-basis-in-reality/497907/20 "2009-05-28T14:11:35Z")
Oliver and Lisa Douglas of Green Acres shared a big double bed on television in 1965. Are there any earlier examples? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-lucy-rickys-rob-lauras-twin-beds-have-any-basis-in-reality/497907.md?page=2)